Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 20:10:12 -0400
From: "S______ R______"
Subject: THE MAIDS

Hello Larry,
I wanted to tell you about an incredible theatrical experience that I had on Saturday night in Gloucester.
Not many people know of the performances, the company havebeen very specific and elusive ?? But I was so blown away that I am compelled to tell all.

I was invited by a close friend of mine to see The Maids, produced by The Contemporary Theatre of Boston, for those of you who might not know...it is an absurdist play by the brilliant French playwright Jean Genet.
CTB from what I hear, is a new? edgy company who want to shake up our rarely shaken Boston Theatre Scene.
And shake they did!

This was no ordinary performance in an ordinary theater, this was 'site specific' and this specific site was a beautiful home in Gloucester.
The audience were greeted at the door and served drinks and food for one hour, pre performance. I LOVED this! There were about thirty guests, or audience members and almost all of them were dressed up in period clothing, or just dressed up!
I recognized some Gloucester Stage veterans and some South End artists. A truly eclectic group.

After about an hour of lovely drinks and munchies and period music from the 40's, we are ushered into a gorgeous room which for all intents and purposes is the living room of the "Madame" in which the story is based around.

The playing space and close proximity to the audience at first felt a bit too close, but within minutes we are transported back in time and I even found myself leaning in for some of the more intimate moments. The play itself is dark and I will get to the acting in a moment.

I first want to comment on the amazing level of detail, gothic candelabras, working period phones right down to a beautiful working victrola. Absolutely splendid.

The actresses were good almost bordering on brilliant at times.
British actress and Co- founder of CTB gave a terrific performance as "Madame" Nadia Delemeny gave a very pure absurdist performance and this character suited her wonderfully and her beauty and subtle humor made it even more of a pleasure to watch.
Molly Schreiber's portrayal of Claire was poetic and strong, and the incredible transformation's that she makes through the play actually gave me goose bumps!
Judith Kalora who played Solange ,well to put it plainly...SCARED THE CRAP out of me!!

I have been a patron of the arts and a devoted theater go-er for more years than I can remember, and I have NEVER felt frightened by a stage play, but this actress actually made me flinch and I felt my stomach tighten up in to a ball for the duration of the show! Larry, this was one of the best productions I have ever seen.And I do not say this lightly.

The carefully crafted imagery, the poetry, intensity, etc. were breathtaking. I have seen The Maids in New York several years ago and I can promise you this, Chris Cavalier's vision and direction BLEW ME AWAY!!

SO PLEASE all of you who read this...
contact the CTB and book your tickets as soon as possible.They have been touring for quite a few weeks so not sure how much longer they can go on. I have no idea were they will go next, they do have a website, not easy to find however.

And ACTORS...send your résumé's to this incredible company and lets hope they stay in Boston for a very long time!!
Best Regards,
[S. L.]
PS...If at all possible, please do not publish my email address, I do not have any way to contact the company and do not want to be flooded with questions!
;-)
I hope your health is good.